This evening on NBCSN, it’s the Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Buffalo Sabres starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. Following are some game notes, as compiled by the NHL on NBC research team:

— Pittsburgh, the Eastern Conference leader with 74 points, enters tonight’s game 14-1-0 in their last 15 home games. The Pens’ only home loss in that stretch came in a 5-1 defeat to Florida on Jan. 20. The Penguins have lost 5 times in their last 21 games (16-4-1), with all 5 losses to teams outside of playoff position (at DAL, vs. FLA, at EDM (OT), at NJ, at OTT). Buffalo has a league-low 35 points.

— The Penguins, 21-4-0 at CONSOL Energy Center, match Anaheim for the NHL’s most home wins. Buffalo’s 5 road wins (5-14-3) are the fewest in the league. The Pens have won 6 of the last 9 matchups in Pittsburgh over the Sabres and are 10-4-0 in the last 14 overall meetings.

— Pittsburgh is coming off a 3-0 loss at Dallas on Sat., the third time they’ve been shut out this season. Buffalo won at Columbus, 5-2, on Sat. but is 1-3-2 overall in their last 6 games and have not won consecutive road games played in back-to-back games all season.

— Sidney Crosby has registered at least 1 point in 15 consecutive games against the Sabres, the longest active streak for any player against an NHL team. He has 9 G – 15 A during his streak vs. Buffalo.

— Crosby (league-leading 72 pts, team-leading 27 goals) & Chris Kunitz (25 goals) have a combined 52 goals, one short of matching the highest scoring tandem in the NHL (ANA – Perry/Getzlaf – 53). Both scored in the Pens previous meeting vs. BUF this season (4-1 PIT home win on Oct. 5). Crosby leads all NHL players with 37 home points (12G-25A) and has 13G-20A in 23 career games vs. Buffalo. Kunitz has 7G-5A in 19 career games vs. the Sabres and 3G-4A in last 7 games against them.

— Matt Niskanen (+29 – 1st in NHL) & Kunitz (+25, t-2nd) lead PIT in +/- rating. The Pens have 11 players at +2 or above this season; Buffalo has 4 players at +1 as their highest rated players.

— Tonight, Evgeni Malkin will play in his 500th NHL game. He becomes just the 15th Penguin in team history to reach that milestone. Crosby (522 GP) was the 14th earlier this season. Malkin has points in 6 of his last 7 games vs. the Sabres (4G-7A) & at least 1 point in 11 of his last 12 home games (7G-13A).

— Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury leads the league in wins & home wins (28, 18). Buffalo’s Ryan Miller is 7-11-3 all-time against the Penguins, 1 of only 3 teams he has a losing record against, with a .888 save percentage (his lowest against any NHL team).

— The Penguins lead the NHL in both special teams categories (24.4% on PP, 87.3% on PK). The Sabres are 29th on the PP (13.9%) & 12th on PK (82.9%). Pittsburgh has been perfect on the penalty kill against the Sabres in eight straight home games (18-for-18 during span).

— Pittsburgh ranks 4th in the league in goals per game (3.15), while Buffalo averages the fewest (1.82).

Knock the Sabres all you want, but they are playing really hard under Nolan. This team was a total embarrassment to start the season. In the last 2 months or so, I honestly can’t pick more than 2/3 games where I was like “Wow, the Sabres probably shouldn’t have even taken the ice”.